Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History by Alan Sepinwall

Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History Reviews

• 
  Meg

  Was this revelatory? No. Did it make me think “I should rewatch The OC” with every page turn? Absolutely.
• 
  Lindsey

  You Should Read This If:
  -You want to walk down memory lane with quintessential water cooler moments that made The OC a cultural staple of the early aughts. (Christmukkah! Welcome to the OC, bitch! Spiderman kiss! Marissa in an alley in TJ!)
  -You want a better understanding of what teenage celebrity looked like in a pre-social media era.
  -Your indie music tastes were born from Seth Cohen’s indie music tastes, and you want an excuse to revisit The OC Mixtape 1 or aggressively sing Imogen Heap’s “Mmmmwhatcha say.”
  
  I love The OC. I love it now with the same reckless abandon I did as a middle schooler when I watched Seth Cohen redefine cool in the cultural lexicon. In 2003, it was nearly impossible not to be invested in the Anna-Seth-Summer love triangle or revel in one of tv’s greatest villains, Julie Cooper-Nichol. As a thirty-something, I can now appreciate some of the more high-brow analysis that Sepinwall and company offer in this book. The interviews - particularly from Schwartz and Savage - give behind-the-scenes insight into how a (smash hit) television show gets created while also offering some candid mea culpa on how it spiraled into disaster.
  
  The cast and crew are all clearly professional and grown-up, which means the interviews are relatively polite and the tea is limited. No one sat down with Sepinwall to talk trash about each other. (Which, okay, I acknowledge is the nice adulty thing to do, but I wouldn’t have minded a bit more celebrity dish about the personal drama, relationships, and breakups that happened on set. There's a distinct lack of TMZ in this book, which I'm sure Sepinwall would take as a compliment but I'm not entirely sure I mean it as one.) That being said, certain members of the cast are pretty forthcoming with their feelings about being contractually trapped in a teen drama for their peak-Hollywood years.
  
  Sepinwall does an excellent job of analyzing the show’s role in the zeitgeist, and there is quite a lot of cultural impact to unpack (i.e.: I've spent twenty years consistently quoting “You know what I like about rich kids? *air punch* NOTHING.”). Sepinwall, you created a success. Schwartz and Savage, you did, too. I had so much fun reading this book. And so will you.
• 
  jess

  Loved the oral history format. Fun to listen on audio even if it’s not the actual recorded interviews with the cast and crew.
• 
  Taylor Tetreau

  Hustlers grab your guns
  Your shadow weighs a ton
  Driving down the 101
  California here we come
  Right back where we started from
  
  I'm the kind of TV dork and OC fan who once posted a picture of the actual real life mall where Marissa stole the watch with the caption "DRINKING? CRYING? COPS? MUST BE CHRISTMAS!!!!" so reading this was a religious experience for me, tbh -- fascinating both as a fan and a writer
  
  fav anecdotes include Caleb Nichols being in the top two roles Alan Dale's ever played (Charles Widmore found dead in a ditch on an island), Adam Brody needing to be talked into the scenes with George Lucas because he was so mad about the prequels, all the showrunners interviewing to supervise Josh Schwartz being too visibly pissed at how young he was to get the job (HONESTLY I GET IT), the casting director getting fired off Everwood bc they thought he was giving The OC all the talented kids, and the runner about how often the largely forgotten one-season teen soap Skin starring Olivia Wilde (WHICH! I! WATCHED!) came up in the oral history of an entirely different television program
  
  On the stereo
  Listen as we go
  Nothings gonna stop me now
  California here we come
  Right back where we started from
• 
  Lucas

  Offering my own transcribed oral testimony as my review.
  
  Lucas (megafan): I found The O.C. late. Growing up, we didn't have cable because we were pretty poor, so, aside from whatever I watched on my dad's cable every Wednesday night, the only TV I really knew was what was available over the air or what someone had on DVD. For my birthday in Grade 11, my mom gave me the gift (lifetime addiction?) of finally having the Internet at home, and it wasn't long after that I discovered you could download TV episodes. I soon abandoned my books in favour of gluttonous amounts of television, which I downloaded primarily through BearShare (of all things...). A friend recommended I watch The O.C.; I want to say that I scoffed at the idea of watching a teen drama, but the truth is that I hadn't really ever heard of it. (Much later, when I watched the episode when Marissa dies, I realized I had vaguely heard people talking about her dying the day or two after the episode must've aired, but it was only later did I even realize it was about The O.C. Marissa's death, then, was a surprise for me, but weirdly one I realized I'd already known about.).
  
  I've never ended binging anything harder than I did The O.C.. I fell hard, converted almost immediately to the high-priesthood of zealotry. Funny, deliciously melodramatic, melancholy, wistful. And god, what an absolute joy to spend 42 minutes with Cohen family. In one of my more desperate moves, I called in to school sick one day because I had stayed up all night watching The O.C. and wanted to spend the schoolday watching more. But I was slowed not just by our mediocre broadband connection but the sheer volume of show I had missed -- it was close to 80 or 90 episodes by that point, since the 4th season was just about to begin airing when I found it. As I watched as many episodes as I could, the show pushed along towards its ending; "Dice" by Finlay Quaye played as I raced to the show on air before it went off.
  
  In the end, the only episode of the The O.C. I ever watched live was the finale. I remember exactly where I was and the feeling I got at the very end, when Patrick Park's Life is a Song plays over an epilogue montage; it broke my heart, in a happy way. I never numbered among the viewers recorded in the show's ratings and yet it has meant more to me than almost any other TV show or movie. Which isn't to overstate my estimation of the raw quality of the show, which deviated in such extremes between itself at its best and its worse that it doesn't quite stand up with the titans of Golden Age television. I esteem The O.C. not for its greatness, though, but rather its goodness. It is solid, watchable, reliably funny, and frequently sincere despite its reputation for acerbic metacommentary. And underneath the plot there's so much else going on: America post-9/11; the rise of Internet-driven culture; the fragmentation of network TV; rarely-seen positive masculinity; the morphing of nerd culture; Gen X fantasy; a show that some alternate universe, bizarro version of Gramsci might've liked (or at least appreciated); over even some of the headier stuff, like making me think that L.L. Bean was for very poor people because Lindsay wears it as the poor girl when she transfers to Harbour.
  
  I know all of that is in there, but I'm not smart enough to have anything terribly sophisticated to say about it. That's why I had hoped Alan Sepinwall's new book would have sophisticated things to say about The O.C. Instead, the book is superficial; readable, delightful, but superficial. It is a total joy to hear from everyone who made the show reflect in different ways on their different perspectives; if you listen to the audiobook, there's extra joy in hearing Schwartz and Savage read their own lines. I learned a good deal, even after I thought I knew anything worth knowing about The O.C. But after about 300 pages, I gave up hope that there might be something more than simply a fun oral history.
  
  The reason, I think, is in the Acknowledgement section at the very end, where Alan Sepinwall describes the book as the idea of Savage and Schwartz to celebrate the 20th anniversary. In that construct, suddenly its restrained, superficial approach makes a lot more sense: this is a capital-O-H Official History (TM) of The O.C., conceived by its creators in a (glorious, entertaining) act of correction on the show's 20th anniversary. There is no commitment -- nor claim, to be fair -- that this is to be a critique or analysis. This oral history is a palimpsest on the narrative you remembered about The O.C., happy for the most part to gloss over the very things it alludes are most important (Fox execs, the attitudes of Brody and Barton, mischa's mom!) while dwelling on the obvious and superficial reflections. (If you have a drink every time someone remarks on the real beauty of Mischa Barton, you will end up passed out in an alley in Tijuana.) Schwartz and Savage are a bit more self-critical but none of the other oral contributors really reach that level of reflection. Maybe that's the price you pay for their participation? It's not unexpected that participants might be more laconic than a reader might like, but Alan doesn't seem to push participants that hard. And his analysis in between the speakers is pretty feeble; it's more just weak connective tissue rather than context or analysis. There is some fuller exploration of some parts of the show (e.g. the chapter dedicated to the soundtrack and the casting period) but not uniformly throughout, and whole aspects of the show, like its costumes and its cinematography, go largely unaddressed.
  
  Despite my quibbles, my superfandom guaranteed my enjoyment. This was more or less a total joy to read. I'm rewatching the show now for the first time in a few years (my obsession has mellowed in my 30s) and it's still intensely familiar; I know the lines, I know the beats, I know the score! I still love it. It still makes me smile. And this book made me smile a lot.
  
  You (reader): that was too long Lucas. you should shut up.
  
  Lucas: whatever. I’m hitting publish now.
• 
  Nina Angelillo

  Okay so here is my thing with this book. I really, really enjoyed it. As a true blue OC fan, this was my first show I ever fell in love with and there is such a fun nostalgia that comes with reading this book. I so loved reading how the show came together and the breakdown of a PERFECT first season (seriously, iykyk). The cast, crew, and writer interviews were great and kept the story moving along and helped bookmark each period in time.
  I say this all to say that the first 2/3 of the book was fantastic and the last piece felt a little rushed to just move on with the rest of the OC seasons...for better or for worse? It definitely was disheartening to read that the cast was "over it" pretty much at the end of season 2 (arguably rightfully so but still..) and especially read that Adam Brody was a bit........annoyed..... through it all (still love him). I get that the "glory days" of the OC were for sure in the first season, but the geek in me would have loved the same breakdown of EVERY season like how the first season was done. However, I understand that the show did start to drop off and, as the book revealed, the writers truly were all over the place scrambling to find the perfect balance and capture the magic of their pilot season.
  
  Overall an interesting read.
• 
  Francesca

  I think it's a little odd so many people were disappointed about the lack of tea in this book. It's definitely more a behind the scenes look and it actually was nice to have most of the cast reflect fondly on the show where the biggest problems on set were the network and everyone being over it by the third season (also makes a lot of sense now that Melinda and Rachel were carrying the later episodes). Compared to a lot of other teen soaps that was refreshing and I'm glad a show I was so deeply invested in has not been completely tarnished.
  
  That being said what was up with savetheoc.com like I was under the impression that it was official and run by fox. Was that a lie? This haunts me because according to this book everyone knew the show was over and yeah I had a feeling too but was I on my desktop computer every day making up names and signing that petition repeatedly to save The OC? Absolutely. Why did it exist? To get my hopes up? For what???
  
  Also someone put Fix You (oc version) on streaming.
• 
  Alyse Runowski

  I can’t rate this fairly because I’m ride or die for the OC, but I will say that it’s more of a behind-the-scenes thing. There isn’t much tea, but it’s still fun for fans to learn the context behind the casting, scripts, scenes, music, etc. Also reconfirmed that Peter Gallagher is perfection 😇
• 
  Grace B

  This was a very quick listen! Very nostalgic - I remember vividly when the OC soundtrack and Imogen Heap’s Hide & Seek came out so it was fun to revisit. I also learned a lot of BTS about the actors and their thoughts on the show/phenomenon. Would recommend if you were a fan of the OC like I was!
• 
  Sarah

  Was interesting to listen to and hear about what went on behind the scenes, etc, but dropped to 3 stars because it was not the actual actors talking, which I misinterpreted, that would've made it a better listen.
• 
  Galen

  “Welcome to the OC, b—h!” The OC is the rare show that somehow perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the early aughts. It captured a perfect crossroads of TV, music, movies, and the early internet so well. It is a near perfect time capsule and just couldn’t be made in any other time period.
  
  This book was a great look at the show’s cultural impact and answered a lot of behind the scenes questions that have plagued viewers (including me) for years.
  
  I wish there been a little more commentary (most of the book is interview style), but the cast and crew gave some incredible interviews and this touched upon a lot quickly. I was transported right back to middle school and I had the urge to download indie music onto my iPod shuffle.
  
  A great look back at the show’s influence and faults, but as far as the early 2000s go the OC aged pretty well. California, here we come.
• 
  Bianca

  I love the OC and it was a huge part of my teenage years - I would watch my sisters DVDs of the seasons all summer long.
  
  I loved this book and a first hand account from the actors and everyone involved. It would have been great to hear more from certain people, but understand why this lacked in certain areas.
  
  I was surprised to hear Adam Brody did not like playing Seth, but I will live in ignorance and pretend like that’s who he is in real life.
  
  The chapter about the music was my absolute favorite. I listen to music from the show weekly and many of my favorite artists had songs in The OC. Music you listened to in your teenage years is so formative, as mentioned in the book, and that is why I’m still so drawn to the show today.
  
  While I don’t have a DVD player anymore, I’ll be logging into HBO tonight to rewatch.
• 
  Meredith Ann

  The OC started right when I was about to start college and I was far too cool to be interested in it; in fact, I actively avoided it while admitting that I thought Adam Brody was hot. Was I a gatekeeping asshole about the music on it too? Absolutely I was, I was an 18 year old who listened to indie rock in 2003. How dare other people want to listen to Death Cab!!
  
  Anyway, later on, I happened to catch the season two episode where Ryan and Seth go to Miami during spring break to visit The Nana and was like "why have I been avoiding this? It's great!" I borrowed the DVDs from the library and caught up very quickly. I had a Princess Sparkle shirt and cried at the finale. Since then, I've bugged multiple people to watch it, telling them to look past the teen soap opera aspect and their preconceived notions about it. Most of them loved it too! The first season remains pretty much perfect and I rewatched it during the pandemic. (Oliver was still ridiculous though.)
  
  This book really made me nostalgic for when I discovered the show and went all in on my fandom. It made me want to finish my given-up-on total rewatch, even the less excellent later seasons. It was also a great dive into television and fan culture of the early 2000s, reading ONTD and TWoP daily - what a different world that was, one I still kind of miss while being thankful we're somewhat less mean in our pop culture snark nowadays. Basically, if you like The OC, I totally recommend this. Obviously, because I've been rambling about it for 3 paragraphs now.
• 
  Kerri

  This book was a fantastic reminder of why 20 years later this remains one of my favorite shows of all time. Minus one star for the audiobook narration not featuring the cast itself because it is very jarring to hear narrators you’ve heard read sex scenes speaking as Ben McKenzie (and others). Also one of them said “Kristen” early on instead of Kirsten. But the book itself was great and I highly recommend.
• 
  Katie

  omg, y'all KNOW i love a pop culture oral history but this was made for me in a LAB! loved reading about stars who weren't cast (chris pine! sebastian stan! emma stone!?), teen celebrity pre-social media, & the way music was a foundational part of the show. just total katenip.
• 
  Taryn

  More honest than I was expecting, and it really made me want to do a re-watch, even the shitty seasons!
• 
  Harpal

  this was straight fire lol. solid oral history format like PLEASE KILL ME, etc. I know way too many OC facts now. recommended!!!
• 
  Kelsey

  Well now I need to do a rewatch.
• 
  Rory Diamond

  Exactly what I thought it would be
• 
  Cara

  3.5
  This was an interesting read. It dives into the inner workings of the O.C. and I did learn a lot but I finished it feeling more bummed out than anything. It’s no fun finding out most of the actors and crew on the show hated their experience. Most of them would never dream of doing a reboot or revival because they did not enjoy their time on the show and several of the main cast were wanting out by season two. So I did enjoy reading about the casting and creative processes but as a whole, it was just kind of sad.
• 
  Amy Barrett

  There was no way I wasn’t going to love this book (about the OC *and* written by my favorite tv critic??) but wow, how fun. Loved learning about all the behind-the-scenes drama. The sections covering season one, the casting process, and the music were (unsurprisingly) my favorite parts. And even though I’ve consumed a lot of OC-related content over the years, a lot of this was new to me.
• 
  Elizabeth Meaders

  This was actually very well done, specifically how they were able to keep the show relevant to today and how it shaped TV post cancelation. Would have been that much greater had they actually had everyone do their voiceover for the interviews.
• 
  Sam

  This is sort of a review, and sort of a rant.
  
  I’ve been a life-long TV fanatic, but the first time I stepped out of my Disney Channel sandbox was WB’s Gilmore Girls, shortly followed by the O.C. I walked into the living room while my mom was watching the season one cotillion episode. The scene when Ryan shows up at the Coopers’ doorstep and helps Marissa with her dress was the first moment to grace my life. I picked up from that episode. Later I got the DVD box set (season one was a clunker) and became enamored, devout, and delighted by the Cohens, the Coopers, the Core Four, the music, the moments, and above everything else… my favorite character on the show, Marissa Cooper. So you probably know where this is headed. (Spoilers, obviously.)
  
  It’s often discussed how many storylines were thrown at Mischa Barton, but rarely does the focus land on how well she managed them, or how significant her character was. Battling depression and anxiety, suicidal ideation, addiction, and grappling with toxic family problems, sexual identity, and legal issues, Marissa was one of a kind. She was a character put through the ringer, and yet, she was filled to the brim with empathy, with kindness, with a selfless need to help other people (mostly Ryan) out of difficult spots. She showed kindness to every other girl Ryan dated, his brother, and any person lucky enough to be her friend. When you have a character who valued her own life and happiness so little and would’ve happily sacrificed for others, the irony and the tragedy is sour.
  
  I was ten when I started watching the show, and I was fourteen when the decision was made to kill Marissa Cooper in the season three finale. I know this is less of a review and more of a tribute, but I’ve watched the O.C. dozens of times. I read this book with amusement and fondness, remembering every moment as if it was yesterday. But by far the chapter I wanted to read most was the justification of something I’ve always thought of as cruel, unnecessary and wrong. And rightfully so. There’s a cold, calculated hand coming down to give the command, and plenty of people who could’ve stepped in to make a different choice. I’ll always love the O.C. and I’ll always come back to it. But I come back to my anger too, and I suppose I’m still not over it. Marissa Cooper just matters too much.
  
• 
  Emily

  I loved The OC as it was airing, and I've rewatched it as an adult. I was a little too young to know/care about the drama happening on the set, so it was a little sad to discover that everyone was so unhappy working on the show! (Adam Brody was unhappy playing Seth! Nooo!) I do feel like part of the story behind Marissa's death was withheld, though. Misha Barton's contributions were also small. I think there's a lot more there.
  Anyways, this was a really interesting look at the show, and all of the major players of The OC were interviewed, so everyone got to contribute and tell their side of the story. I did turn the show on after I finished, and it did kind of make me look at it in a new way.
  BTW, a short reboot would get the show to 100 episodes, which was a goal of producers. Just saying!
• 
  Brittany

  How I Came to Read This Book: Oh man I was such a big fan of The O.C. I stumbled upon this in some random way and knew I had to get it.
  
  The Plot: It's an oral history, but with surprisingly strong depth in terms of cast representation - nearly every character, actor, writer, and producer that had a major piece of the action is interviewed directly for the book here as they detail how the show began, its meteoric rise and catastrophic fall, and all the regrets and lessons learned for super team showrunners Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz.
  
  The Good & The Bad: Credit where it's due: The book pulls no punches in acknowledging the show's rapid descent, and the show's creators being so directly involved gives you pretty clear line of sight into why that was the case. They highlight all the problems and mistakes they made, making this a pretty illuminating book overall as opposed to just fan lip service. It's also super cool that they got all the major cast members to participate in the interviews, simply because having read the oral history of The Office, where many major cast members' interviews were just culled from secondhand sources, this one felt a little more authentic and real.
  
  Interestingly, the 'Core 4' actors all kind of reflect what the book itself suggests they were like on set (or at least...counter to it). Mischa Barton is polite, guarded, and more than a little frustrated with how things turned out for her. Rachel Bilson is fun, bubbly, and thankful. Adam Brody is a little embarrassed by it all (including his shit behavior toward the latter run of the series). And Benjamin Mackenzie is professional and earnest.
  
  There are some elements of the series the book upholds and praises more than it ought to (see: the entire character of Taylor Townsend) but overall I felt like having this third party writer in there to narrate and sort of be the vox populi was fun, especially as it's got a little bit of snark here and there (see: the recurring references to 'Skin'). A few sections felt a bit lengthy, but in general there are all these little bite-sized chunks in each longer arc that make it easy to get through. I am curious...they talk a lot about the characters' general apathy as the series went on, but I'm wondering about other drama that's alluded to (except for Melinda and Rachel!) that isn't really expounded on here. There's certainly a lot of veiled commentary that suggests why some things went the way they did, in particular with Mischa - although there's a huge apologetic tone there too.
  
  While this book gave me major nostalgia feels (I sincerely want to rewatch S1) it also was illuminating in other ways. They pointed out a lot about what made Mischa Barton's Marissa a frustrating character (spoiler alert: It's not entirely her fault, by a longshot). They highlighted why the music resonated so deeply on the show. They made note of how Seth Cohen became a prototype for future characters on TV. They unearthed the behind-the-scenes network drama that led to one decision or another, and were very honest about why Season 1 was so explosively popular - yet also led to their demise.
  
  Overall this was cool. I enjoyed it a lot more than the other oral history I've read, and felt like I gleaned new insights about this lovely nostalgic piece of my past.
  
  The Bottom Line: A must-read for O.C. fans that sheds new light on the series while celebrating its high notes and being genuinely apologetic about its low ones.
  
  Anything Memorable?: Not specifically but what a fun book to jog the memory in general.
  
  2024 Book Challenge?: Book #48 in 2028
• 
  Bree-Anna

  WELCOME TO THE O.C., BITCH!!
  
  I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! I’m a huge fan of The O.C. and I really enjoyed the POV’s from everyone involved with the show.
  
  The conversations about the music on the show was so interesting and I liked that they got members from bands that appeared on the show to talk about that time in their life.
  
  I found Mischa Barton quite cold and detached in her interviews, almost reluctant to tell her side, which makes sense given what she’s gone through but she could have opened up a bit more. Adam Brody didn’t seem enthusiastic about the show then and now. And I get it to some degree. They don’t want to be defined by something they’ve done as it’s just a job for them but it’s quite upsetting that he didn’t seem to put much effort in. A lot of the time he didn’t remember anything.
  
  Everyone else’s POV, especially Shwartz and Savage, was great! I loved the music person (Alex) and her stories. I also loved the explanation behind certain shots and scenes. Doug’s vision for the pilot had created a phenomenon and an iconic pilot episode.
  
  It’s so interesting that Billson and Reeser were so much like they’re characters. It’s not a bad thing, I just didn’t realise how alike they were and how they moulded their character. I think it’s cool they did that with Adam Brody too.
  
  SANDY COHEN 4 EVA!!!!!!!
• 
  Jeramey

  I long believed that the first season of The O.C. was this fantastic television season and that everything that came after it was a slow, and then fast, decline. But my central takeaway from the book is that the gap between season one and everything else is even bigger than I remember.
  
  Without pointing the finger at a stand-alone issue, the interviews really paint the picture as to how that happened.
  
  The common narrative, as I remember it, was that Mischa Barton was difficult on set and things just didn't work with other plots. The interviews, which sadly lack great depth from Barton herself, reveal that Schwartz deserves blame for basically abandoning the set, that the writer's room basically abandoned the magic of the first season in favor of trying ultimately-unsuccessful storylines, that various guest arcs were cut way too short, the actors deserve blame for checking out, Fox might deserve some blame for meddling and that the producers deserve virtually all of the blame for killing Barton's character. A lot of small mistakes seemed to snowball into a box that the cast and writers couldn't escape or those in leadership positions didn't have the maturity or experience to intervene.
  
  All that said, it was a very enjoyable read and triggered all kinds of memories of the music and highs of the show. Far better than listening to the Bilson/Clarke podcast.
• 
  Emma Grimsdale

  This show was so formative for me it was really cool to hear the story of its conception and all the things that fell into place for it to turn out how it did.
  The most fascinating aspect was about television production at the time. Josh Schwartz was really living the dream as an inexperienced 20 something given free rein to make a huge network tv show. V lightning in a bottle type deal.
  This was both way juicier than I expected and still didn’t go as far as I wanted. As someone who has read probably every tell all/behind the scenes interview, it was nice to get some new admissions (Adam Brody was a dick on set and Peter Gallagher felt slighted by the adults taking a backseat to the teen storylines) but there were still some things it felt like they danced around. Mischa Barton in particular didn’t seem ready/willing to get into a lot of things.
  
  Overall if you aren’t coming in with a love of the show I could see this not being super interesting but there was no way I wasn’t gonna eat this shit up. Need the Gossip Girl version STAT.